Cubes - Review

Mathieu Lussier is offering an interesting Windows Phone game over at the Marketplace. Cubes (not to be confused with Cubed) is an challenging puzzle game that has you moving cubes across a grid into a flashing zone on that grid.

Verizon extends Trophy offer to MS employees

Going back to November, it was known that Verizon would be offering the HTC Trophy world phone to Microsoft employees, part of the deal that MS would cover employee phones (so long as they were Windows Phones, ahem).

A few days ago, that date for the offer was extended to April 1st, a sign we thought that Trophy release was imminent. Now we get word that the date is extended, yet again, by one week to April 7th. What does this all mean? What we've known for a bit: Verizon is testing the Trophy, it's nearly complete and their "release dates" for the public (latest being the 15th) are clearly moving targets, not written in stone. Lets just hope this is the last of the delays as Verizon is really dragging this drama out for a phone that is far from the cream of the crop.

Official XDA app is here

After 7 months of development, XDA's official app for Windows Phone 7 is here. It is equipped with Toast notifications and Live Tile support, so you can receive real-time PM notifications. Sporting the Metro user interface, the XDA app let's users:

Changes to Nodo's Changelog?

Last week we shared the changelog for the Windows Phone 7 "Nodo" update that came from Microsoft's support page. Along with copy/paste, faster apps and games and other improvements, the changelog noted Marketplace improvements that included "using a credit card with an address outside the United States".

Not sure when it happened but apparently Microsoft has changed the changelog to omit the "using a credit card with an address outside the United States" portion of the Marketplace improvements.

So why the change to the changelog? Windows Phone Support via tweet has noted the improvement note was "referring to an issue that U.S. customers had when using a different language/region format on their phones." The verbage was removed to avoid confusion. Yet it still seems very confusing.

Windows Phone 7 development by the numbers

With the MIX11 Conference just around the corner, Microsoft is marking the one year anniversary of the Windows Phone 7 developer's tool set. In reflecting over the past year's events with Windows Phone 7, Brandon Watson has shared some numbers concerning Microsoft's mobile operating system. Here are the highlights.

The Windows Phone Developer Tools have been downloaded over 1.5 million times. Watson notes that number equals the entire population of Philadelphia.

There are 36,000 members (registered as developers) of the AppHub (Windows Phone development) Community. This number is growing at a rate of 1,200 new members a week.

Numbers of note concerning the Marketplace include that Windows Phone customers average 12 app downloads a month; certification is taking an average of 1.8 days to complete; 44% of all paid apps include a trial version; and 62% of all apps submitted pass certification.

From day one, Microsoft and its critics felt that Windows Phone 7's success was dependent on developer support. The Marketplace currently has a little over 12,200 apps and combined with the numbers Watson has provided, that support appears to be strong.

Microsoft calls out Google for poor YouTube on Windows Phone

We all know how...unimpressive...the "native" YouTube app is on Windows Phone 7--it's basically just a browser for the site and pales in comparison to Android and even the iPhone. Why that is has always bothered users, but it looks like we may have an answer, or at least one-side of it.

In a blog post by Brad Smith, Senior Vice President & General Counsel at Microsoft, he blames Google directly for the Windows Phone situation. There's no if's and's or but's about it, according to Smith ergo Microsoft:

...in 2010 and again more recently, Google blocked Microsoft’s new Windows Phones from operating properly with YouTube. Google has enabled its own Android phones to access YouTube so that users can search for video categories, find favorites, see ratings, and so forth in the rich user interfaces offered by those phones. It’s done the same thing for the iPhones offered by Apple, which doesn’t offer a competing search service.

Unfortunately, Google has refused to allow Microsoft’s new Windows Phones to access this YouTube metadata in the same way that Android phones and iPhones do. As a result, Microsoft’s YouTube “app” on Windows Phones is basically just a browser displaying YouTube’s mobile Web site, without the rich functionality offered on competing phones. Microsoft is ready to release a high quality YouTube app for Windows Phone. We just need permission to access YouTube in the way that other phones already do, permission Google has refused to provide.

Microsoft, in response, is ready to fight against Google, ironically in Europe:

Microsoft is filing a formal complaint with the European Commission as part of the Commission’s ongoing investigation into whether Google has violated European competition law. We thought it important to be transparent and provide some information on what we’re doing and why.

This raises all sorts of questions for us, non-legal types who don't understand everything going on behind the scenes, for instance why can HTC and 3rd-parties create superior apps but Microsoft cannot? For example, SuperTube is quite impressive and adds all sorts of advanced features, including streaming in HD and saving files. Then again, in a personal note from developer Atta Elayyan, involved with LazyTube (which just hit 2.0), SuperTube evidently violates several of YouTube's Terms of Service, but Microsoft seems to have looked the other way during the app's Marketplace approval (get out tinfoil hats...now).

Whatever the exact details, gauntlet meet ground, as Microsoft has just thrown down some serious charges against Google. This could get interesting...

Windows Phone developer makes $28k in just four months

In an interesting "case study" presented by Microsoft Advertising, developer Richard Foster is reported to have made a nice $28,882 in four months using Microsoft's Advertising SDK across his 14 apps for Windows Phone:

Richard Foster, once a DOS programmer and now working for the family dry cleaning business and developing mobile applications part-time for his company Edgeway Software, is ecstatic about the results he is seeing developing for Windows Phone 7. Since the introduction of his first app, Unit Converter, in November, Richard has now developed more than 14 apps - all with the Microsoft Advertising SDK for Windows Phone 7 for mobile.

Richard had developed paid apps for the Windows Mobile 6x platform, but since there are a huge number of free apps in the new marketplace for Windows Phone 7, he made the switch to ad-supported apps. For him, this model proved the most lucrative.

Now, in fairness, most developers are not making nearly as much money as Mr. Foster and there's a certain dishonesty in making him a poster-child--plus 14 apps is nothing to sneeze at even if they are things like a "unit converter". However, Windows Phone is still a young platform and it goes to show how just advertising alone, can lead to some serious sustainable income for developers--if ya got the skillz.

And lets not forget that last part: having an app that is coded well, has a nice UI and does something unique is still needed for success. We like to think of '4th & Mayor', 'AlphaJax' and a few others as examples of this talent and good app development.

Elbert Perez releases 'Microchip Rush' to the Marketplace

If you don't know who Elbert Perez is, you probably know his games as he just published his 10th one to the Windows Phone Marketplace, called 'Microchip Rush'. His other games are include Nom Nom Worm, Impossible Shoota, Quadra, Fishing Girl and many others.

From the app's description for Microchip Rush:

The microchips need to be delivered fast! As the manager of the largest microchip production facility your task is to teleport as many chips as possible. However production errors manifest themselves as mines that can end your career as a shipping manager.

Use strategy and speed to deliver the most chips as possible

Score the highest score possible to be able to brag around the world that you are the greatest Microchip production facility manager

We always find Perez's games quite amusing and seeing as they are free, you know, there's no real commitment in trying it out. So if the above vid has wet your appetite, here's your Marketplace link.

In essence, the earlier VPN trick forced your computer to connect up to Hungary where, for some reason, the NoDo update was residing for certain phones. Now that NoDo is being pushed out large-scale, well, it's on more servers including more local ones. Still, how to get it to your device is proving to be a little tricky.

On devices listed on Microsoft's website as "delivering update" this should work, including T-Mobile HD7's:

Although some people are reporting that they had to try this multiple times, specifically the "timing" aspect in step 5, lots of folks are successfully getting the NoDo update. Share your experience in comments below and what you did to finally get it to push through. By the way, you do need the February update to get this to work.

ESPN ScoreCenter - First Look

ESPN has released their official ScoreCenter application for Windows Phone 7. ScoreCenter is a free application and brings you scores, news, standings, videos for your favorite sports teams and leagues. ScoreCenter makes a good first impression with a clean appearance and brings plenty of sports information to your Windows Phone.

Features include:

Personalized scoreboards and live look-ins into ESPN Gamecasts for play by play, in-game stats, box scores and game summaries.

The Lead Page that keeps you on top of the most important sports news, scores and videos of the day.

I Love Katamari - Review

The original Katamari Damacy was a sleeper hit when it launched on Playstation 2. It featured a rather unique premise, with the King of All Cosmos requiring the young Prince to roll up tons of objects into a sticky ball called a Katamari. The prince goes from picking up small objects like pencils to gigantic fare like buildings and even islands, creating an amazing sense of scale. Japanese wackiness and humor abounds.

There really is nothing like the Katamari Damacy series, so I was thrilled when Namco released the game on Windows Phone 7 as an Xbox Live title. Then again, I love Katamari comes from the same developer who brought a rather lackluster Pac-Man port to Windows Phone 7, so quality was not guaranteed. I’m pleased to report that while I Love Katamari has a couple of serious issues, its personality and spirit still remain intact.

Why you should care about IE9 on WP7

At Mobile Word Congress in Barcelona, Microsoft VP Joe Belfiore gave a demonstration of some of the new features coming to Windows Phone 7 in an update to come later this year. The touted features include multitasking, which is for some the Holy Grail of mobile platforms. Somewhat overshadowed by the multitasking features was the demonstration of Internet Explorer 9 for Windows Phone, which is to include many of the features of its desktop counterpart.

The real issue for some WPCentral readers is why they should care about Internet Explorer on Windows Phone? IE has long been the whipping boy among browsers, at least from a PC enthusiast’s standpoint. Lambasted for its lack of security and standards support, Internet Explorer has been losing market share to Google Chrome and Mozilla’s Firefox.

Follow the break to learn why Internet Explorer 9 is the single biggest feature coming to Windows Phone 7 in 2011, at least in this writers estimation.

Microsoft gives AT&T users some hope for NoDo

In the wake of the uproar over their lack of communication on their update strategy, Microsoft created a web page to communicate with users on the status of their updates. Up until now AT&T users were left wondering what "Testing" meant, and how long that would take. The bad news is that all three Windows Phone 7 devices on AT&T are still in the testing phase, but the good news is that there are target dates attached now.

According to Microsoft’s website, testing for both the NoDo and Pre-Nodo updates are estimated to be completed early next month. While this is obviously later than anyone wants, at least we have a time frame to mark on the calendar.

What do you think? Is this too late? Are you at least glad that there is some communication rolling at this point? Get your rant on in the comments.

Nodo Update being distributed at Rogers

Samsung Focus owners on the Rogers network are reporting that they are receiving the March Nodo Update today. We've gotten a handful of tips from Roger's customers who were pleasantly surprised that when they hooked their carrier locked Focus up to Zune, the update notification was there.

We can only hope that AT&T isn't too far behind. So for the Roger's customers in the crowd, how's the update process going?

Super Monkey Ball rolling to Xbox Live on April 6

Since the debut of Xbox Live on Windows Phone 7, we’ve seen games from a few large console developers like Konami and Namco. Sega is finally throwing its hat into the ring with next week’s Xbox Live title, Super Monkey Ball.

Super Monkey Ball 2 was previously thought to be coming to Xbox Live based on its Achievements listing at Xbox360Achievements. Achievements listings don’t always turn out to be correct, though – the same site listed Katamari Damacy as coming to Windows Phone 7, but then the actual game ended up being I Love Katamari. It now looks like instead of porting the (much superior) Super Monkey Ball 2 from iPhone, Sega chose to start with the original.

Super Monkey Ball places players in control of one of several monkeys-inside-a-ball. Actually, you don’t control the monkey ball directly. By tilting the course itself, you can try to collect bananas and navigate the ball towards each level’s goal, all without falling off the course’s edge. This version of the game uses tilt controls exclusively for steering while the touch screen rotates the camera. The courses feature some pretty basic 3D graphics but the monkey balls themselves are 2D sprites. Mini-games, for which the Super Monkey Ball series is famous, are not present in the first mobile Super Monkey Ball. Still, the game has over 100 stages, so it should keep players busy for a good while.

Super Monkey Ball comes to Xbox Live on Wednesday, April 6. It will cost $4.99. Xbox Live games always have free trials, so smart gamers will give those tilt controls a try before rolling out money for a purchase.